165- MY FAVE ALBERT EINSTEIN SAYING!!!.....

"GREAT SPIRITS HAVE ALWAYS ENCOUNTERED VIOLENT OPPOSITION FROM MEDIOCRE MINDS."

164- H-A-P-P-Y.........C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S....and a MUCH BETTER NEW YEAR than 2008!......

....and a coming New Year where YOU take control of YOUR life!...remember, MAKE a good year!.....squire

163- ELECTING OUR PRESIDENT By NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE?.....

a- For some time, this U.S government and Sociology educator, along with a growing chorus of reformists, are urging that the rules for selecting our U.S. President be changed from an archiac Electoral College method to a simple and FAIRER national popular vote!
It's simple...under the current Electoral College, our invidual votes in the Presidential election often DO NOT count! The current state-by-state method of choosing presidential electors actually sets up a divided country. "Battleground" states during this past election, 2008, received the most, by far, attention and power.

b- The Electoral College has a fixed number of 538 Electors. That's a total of 435+3 for the House of Reps and 100 for the U.S. Senate, both fixed. 538 total Electors in the Electoral College. The +3 was added for D.C. when the U.S. Constitution decided that D.C. had no representation. 270 are needed to "win" the Presidential election. If there is a tie, and History says there has been, it is decided in the House of Reps in a prescribed manner.

c- Since each State in the U.S. Senate is on an equal basis, with two (2) Senators each, the difference comes in the House of Reps. Remember, there are only 438 Electors total. Therefore, each State's Electors in the House is based on population. Are you beginning to understand problem here? Much of the action, therefore, is often centered with the heavily populated states, like California with a total of 55 Electoral votes (53+2)...Texas with 34 (32+2)...Florida with 27 Electoral votes (25+2)...Illinois 21 (19+2)...Ohio 20 (18+2)...PA. 21 (19+2)...New York 31 (29+2).....

d- The state-by-state method of choosing our president and presidential electors actually divides up our country into states, or blocks of states, into ones that are "hot" for campaigning or nearly ignored! Population (Electoral College) dictates that Alaska, Vermont, D.C., Delaware, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, with 3 Electoral votes for our president willl....go figure, now. Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Hawai'i and Idaho have 4 E. votes. That means 2 U.S. Senators and 2 Reps. Now...what states have the "power" in the election and which don't?

e- AND...does YOUR vote on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of a federal election year (formula!) go directly to YOU? Now YOU see that it doesn't!!!! Why, because every State's vote is decided by the Electors who actually vote in each respective state's capital. And they chose how a state votes by the total popular vote. If Virginia, for example, has the plurality vote (most votes by count) for the Democrats, Virginia Electors give ALL 13 Electoral Votes to the democrtic presidential candidate! The Republican candidate for president gets NONE. Therefore, YOUR individual vote, no matter what, did not go directly to the candidate you voted for!!!! Even worse, if your candidate in Virginia was the republican hominee, your vote never had a chance to be counted!

f- Go back to my lists of the states with the most population and Electoral votes. If YOU were a candidate for president, more of your $$$ and especially time would go to what states?...can you say California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Flordia....? And, looking at a specific year's election, a candidate and campaign may need to concentrate also on a "smaller' state that becomes a "swing' state that could add to winning with the larger populated states...remember in 2000 with Florida?

g- So...I am, like many others, into problem solving, convinced that one must have a better way. We need a better system whereby EVERYONE's vote equally counts!

h- One possible plan involves each State NOT giving all Electoral votes to the "winner take all" for a State...but instead a % for the major candidates. Virginia, therefore, has 13 Electoral votes (2 U.S. Senators and 11 Reps). According to the popular vote in Virginia, a % of the 13 would go to the Democratic candidate and a % to the Republican candidate. The way it is now, if the Republicans got the plurality majority, they would receive the 12 Electoral votes and Democrats 0!...see why that is unfair? The Democrats who voted in the popular vote in Virginia would get NOTHING!...their vote, even though voting, does NOT COUNT!!!

162- The YULE LOG, MR. GRINCH And HOT MULLED CIDER At The COLLEGE Of WILLIAM And MARY!....

A tradition at the College, Saturday evening (Dec. 13th), was one fine example of collegiate merriment mixed with plenty of school spirit, comradie and...and smiles! This alum enjoyed it all, including hot mulled cider and plump cookies. My most favorable moment, and there were many, took place after the Grinch's visit in the Wren courtyard in back. To complete the tradition, one needed a sprig of holly to toss into the Great Hall fireplace. While we waited outside with a large crowd, to enter the Great Hall, I asked a student how to get a sprig of holly seen in most hands and continued on moving in line. Within a few moments, a coed came up and asked if I needing a sprig of holly. She and her friends had searched the ground nearby for a sprig that had fallen....to share with me. THAT was my Nikon moment!
Yeah, my Nikon came along with me, as usual.

161- AH, HOMEMADE FRUIT CAKE AFICIONADO!...ARE YOU ONE?....MAYBE HOMEMADE POUND CAKE, INSTEAD?.....

Someone must like fruit cake 'cause they SELL! My maternal grandmere used to spend days baking up her "spacial" fruit cakes in that old-fashioned wood stove oven down on her farm! She used lots of those candied fruits and hand-cracked walnuts and spices. Once the cakes were baked, she soaked them with a dousing of "medicinal spirits", wrapped them in cheesecloth and stored them away in a cool place 'til Christmas...she was 'curing' them.
And what did she do with them? Gave them away as gifts! Oh mi ga!...once in a blue moon, she would whup up her homemade pound cakes, soak 'em and wrap the baked gems for a spell! I used to, as a kid, try to find out what her "medicinal spirts" actully were...I figure that it had to be, uh........rum.

It's OK...go ahead and love those fruit cakes, a slice at a time, though. I'll take the homemade pound cake...with a scoop of 'dirty vanilla' cream!

160- CHRISTMAS...CHRISTMAS...CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS!...I grew up celebrating and respecting, MY choice, the Christmas holidays...and many of the traditions surrounding the handful of days. I still do, after much education and activities that have stretched around the world! This sociologist and author likes the Christmas music and programs in my colonial hometown...the door decorations in the Restored Area...sitting quietly in historic Bruton Parish Church, by candlight, and listening to the harpsichord and church organ completely surrounding me sitting in George Washington's old high pew. A 15-minute presentation, "A Christmas Carol", on Duke of Gloucester Street, on the weekend, three times a day, is refreshing. And I cannot wait for this coming Saturday (13th) at 6pm to become a part of the College of William and Mary Yule Log Ceremony in and around the Sir Christopher Wren Great Hall.
What a tradition it will be..... I will continue to use the word Christmas, and traditions, in any and everything I write and experience. I, of course, consider it a personal choice, never forcing anyone else to follow another's direction...that's my Socratic style!

159- LYING, CHEATING & STEALING in our AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOLS!...AN EPIDEMIC?

A look at this social phenomenon in America's current society....

a- I am so fortunate to have studied at several Virginia universities where their Honor Codes were steeped in honor and tradition based on Jeffersonian ideals and values. The College of William and Mary, America's 2nd oldest, has those high standards. The University of Virginia set the standard with their Honor Code centuries ago. As a matter of fact, much of my first novel (on its last draft), The Serpentine Bond!, is based on the life of seven at U. Va. At U. Va., students are responsible for handling infractions by students.
Lying, cheating and stealing in high schools, in general, are indicative of American society overall. A parent just the other day was distraught with her daughter, living with her father, whenever the daughter communicated with the mother. "How do I get her to understand how to simply tell the truth, anymore?"
b- The problem of stealing in high school is no longer a taboo subject! And this statement is not a rationalization excuse or being a "hasty generatization." There is a total lack of even realizing, admitting that stealing something of value from another student is morally wrong. "I want it...it is now mine, especially when I can cleverly get away with it."
c- There is an ancient adage stressing "that if one complains, one must devise a solution!" Well, the solution is obvious and will take some time to get it off the ground...set up an Honor Code like we have in higher education. Students could be selected, with a few faculty members, and collectively put some strength into the rampant stealing, cheating and lying social phonomenon ALLOWED to continue and grow in our high schools throughout our American culture. The program must be a national effort! The problem can be attacked and stemmed. d- GO FOR IT, America!

158- "YOU'RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH"......

Most of us grew up with Dr. Seuss, but do you remember this song?

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel.
Mr. Grinch.

"...Given the choice between the two of you
I'd take the seasick crockodile....

"The three words that best dscribe you,
are, and I quote: 'Stink. Stank. Stunk....'

"You're a three decker saukraut and toadstool
sandwich
With arsenc sauce...."

(Got to, over Christmas, see a neat take on the history of the Grinch's creation, including the guy who sings my fave and only version of the Mr. Grinch song in the film. Yeah, little thrills often come in small packages!)

(Copyright 1957, Dr. Seuss)

157- ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM!......?

At one time this English-speaking word was touted as the longest one in our language, with 28 letters and 12 syllables. This word became popular when it was used in a national spelling bee. For some unknown reason, this sociologist, as a youngster, memorized it!...even now!
There are longer words that have been coined JUST to be longer but wordsmiths don't recognize them as official. SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS was coined, by the way, for a song in Mary Poppins! And I feel like everyone of you can say or sing it...right?
BUT, "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicolcaniosis" is considered by the Guinness Book as the longest for 2007 (a lung medical term).
The word in the title, by the way, comes from the 19th century and deals with a group opposed to removing the Church of England as the state church.
As for me, and probably most of you? We simply are attached to that Mary Poppins song!
That, my readers, makes a "social commentary" neat! Yes, go ahead at this very moment and ring out with "supercalifragilisticeexpialidocious", no mater where you are and what you are doing. Live excitingly, boldly and originally!!!!!!

156- THANKSGIVING TRIVIA.....

A- During the 1950s, a brand name was being created for selling a certain kind of meat to Americans but did not want a name that would be offensive. So, what was the brand name created that now is a household name? _('Butterball')
B- Why did the Colonel change the name of his restaurants to simply KFC? (To "hide" the FRIED word!)
C- OK, what is the scientific wiggle thang hanging down from a male turkey's nose?_(snood)
D- True or False...Ben Franklin was pressing for the American wild turkey to be offically named our American bird, instead of the American bald eagle? (Quite true!)
E- False or True...the domesticated white turkey is so dumb that if it looks up during a rainstorm, it may drown? -(My maternal grandfather, farmer, raised them...and said they were dumber than______!
F- True or untrue...our fave New England cranberries were named because they looked like CRANES on the plant?_(True)
G- Are sweet potatoes or regular Irish potatoes your fave veggie next to the turkey on a Thanskgiving table?__
H- Are cranberries really grown in the water?_(NO!!!...easier to handle after they're submerged in the bogs...they float.)
I- Should you check the list of ingredients on the back or side of a container of cranberry juice? (YES, especially the % of SUGAR and WATER!!!)
J- What exactly does the term "cranberry cocktail' mean? (Means liquids are the primary base...water?...not much cranberry jucice.)
K- Ever tried the "new" FAD of submerged whole turkey frying?__Like the results?__
L- Stuffing or dressing?___
M-

155- AND WHO DO I MOST WANT TO THANK THIS THANKSGIVING?.....

..............................my father! He was an extremely hardworking person who had little formal education (who cares) but, on his salary as a skilled craftsman, a tailor, he managed to build and pay for his first and only home, always have an auto and expect us to be as conscientious as he was. He even cooked the Thanksgiving meal every year, using much of it from his three gardens and small orchard. Did I mention his beehives? He liked getting away from the public, and everybody, by driving out to his camp that he built in the mountains. He was my hero, even though he never understood my creativity, questionig authority and neverending search to learn more....he's no longer here.

154- THE WORLD'S MOST FASCINATING HISTORY MYSTERIES #4.....The PERUVIAN NAZCA LINES!.....

The world didn't know about the amazing Nazca lines across the Nazca Desert in Peru until airplane pilots began to converse, while they were up high in the sky, about the mysterious figures stretching between the towns of Palpa and Nazca. We now know that hundreds of individual figures depict stylized monkeys, fish, spiders, lizards, orca whales and especially the huge hummer---hummingbirds!
BUT, as a Socratic educator, and if you wanna learn more, you'll have to google, wikipedia and/or Swem or your nearest public library to add more to YOUR curiosity...the pics ARE worth it, guys!

153- THE COLLEGE Of WILLIAM And MARY WALKABOUT!...DISCOVERING THE UNIQUE NATURAL HISTORY OF AMERICA'S 2ND OLDEST UNIVERSITY!....

(Copyright - (c) ron squire steffey, 12/25/2007): SECRETS: How to discover, adventuring, over ten (1) miles of trails throughout 1,200 acres of mostly woodland...how Patrick Henry was connected to the Sunken Garden?...the deer that live waaaaay back in the trail area near Mill Neck Road! Right in the middle of Williamsburg, an urban area, is this 1,200 acre oasis of woodlands, small streams and a Lake Matoaka. At one time, there was a rumor going around, some time ago, that a chunk of that acreage should be sold off...the College said NO!

a- The PLAYERS DELL! - the natural amphitheatre, surrounded by woods, was dedicated in 1934...and not longer exists. Solving the mystery has taken me some extra researching, but it's location has been uncovered! Take a walk around behind Landrum Hall and look up. Noticed the very tall line of pine trees, then look more closely. The trees form a close path behind the dorms there, headed towards Landrum Road...and stop at the road! The neat Players Dell was just across Landrum Road. A forest began there and all the way over to lake Matoaka. Today, it's clear, except to near Jamestown Rd. The tall pines path is still there!
Landrum Road curved around in front of Landrum Hall and in front of the now Crim Dell pond! NO other roads past there or any of the buildings around Swem! The Players Dell had simple 'log' seats and, for years, was home to many quality outdoor productions of all kinds. I have yet to uncover when it was taken apart, ceased to function as a viable Campus asset.

b- SQUIRREL POINT! It's the point in Lake Matoaka directly across from the amphitheatre. If you stand down at the Lake behind the new stage cover roof, and look across, you can see the Point and the early steps leading to the water. When The Common Glory and The Founders was staged at the theatre back in the 1950s to early '70s, those steps were used in the plays! You CAN get to the Point, no boat, by taking the second trail on Compton Drive behind our new Rec Center. Follow that second trail to the first left trail...go a few minutess and take the second left trail, which takes you directly to Squirrel's Point!...the end of that trail. Soooo worth the walk through the College Woods!

c- Finding the "BEWARE" sign on Campus! Walk to the far end of our Sunken Garden, opposite the Wren. Climb the low curving railing on the McClothlin-Street Hall side of the Sunken Garden and bear to the left, slightly, to see the bamboo growing down the incline. You'll see a tree there with a rustic small sign that says "BEWARE". Still trying to uncover why it's there, for some time!...and by whom?

d- The rustic sign behind Ewell Hall and Jefferson Hall and is in the middle of a huge, spreading tree. That unusually shaped tree was, for the first time in years, trimmed of the branches that created a canopy over the fat limbs low to the ground. If you move right up close to the main perpendicular trunk, now, adjust your eyes and locate the tiny sign nailed to the trunk. Someone has printed over the old note, now...last spring it 'said' that the spot was a drinking place. Now...well, you can take a walkabout Campus and read for yourself.

e- There was a COLLEGE FARM...have seen pics of it. The College Farm was along Jamestown Road, open and cultivated, from Barrett. The rest of the are was forested on Jamestown Road to Lake Matoaka. All of the open space that you now see on Ukrop's Way, W&M Hall, dorms, new Rec Center and even Compton Road were...woods! Fresh veggies were supplied by the Farm!

f- The Jamestown Road PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL is still there but sealed. At times, would partially fill with runoff water. Did, for a time, provide a way to go from the old Campus (Wren) to the original Campus Center. Trinkle Hall, older, was connected to the Center. And the Center's original name was---THE WIGWAM. Check out the old Campus Center's bathrooms....1960s vintage!

g- The College of William and Mary IS a UNIVERSITY! "College" is kept for tradition!

h- The cute, lonely little BRONZE DUCK on Campus? Walk to the now closed road at Crim Dell. Look over to Wildflower Refuge sign...the wooden platform for classes or meetings...then just slightly to the left of those in the leaves by the walk...look carefully, especially now with the leaves. Don't give up until you scratch around to locate that widdle duck...and read why it's there...'K?

i- The small sanctuary GARDEN at the end of the Sorority houses at "College Corner" (Richmond, Boundary and Jamestown)! Take a few minutes, I hope, to uncover what's there...tiny pool and sprite...flowers...paths...and don't forget to go around the front of the fence to check out the two markers. Forgot, there's one marker (plaque) inside the garden!

j- The OLD WOODEN GAZEBO on the hillside in the Wildflower Refuge! You need to see this one, really. It's a 'relic' from way back and in poor shape. Walk down to the road at dam end of the Crim Dell pond. Find the bronze WILDFLOWER REFUGE sign. Take the 'new' brick walkway on the opposite side of TINKLING RILL (REAL stream name) from the Refuge sign. Walk a minute into the woods ravine, until you see the original trail on your left, going up into the woods. It's an OLD trail with an iron rim, both side, marking the trail. That very old trail will take you up on the hillside in the woods! Within a minute or three, you'll see, up high, the NEAT wooden gazebo in the middle of the woods!! Two benches...sit a spell...meditate...relax...take a friend and chat. Up there on the hillside, you'll see the steep walkway taking you back down to Tinkling Rill (rill is a very small stream) and the newer brick walkway. Add some ADVENTURE outdoors to your busy university life...please! This has to be my current pick for "NEAT" spot on Campus.

k-Hmmmm...betcha didn't know about the old '6os(?) truck ruins along one of the Campus Woods trails? Now you will, BUT, you're going to have to learn about the importance of ADVENTURES in YOUR life! Suggest you locate one of my "the Squire's Way" blogs (on this site) on ADVENTURES. Ready? The old truck ruins, I think, were left by the Navy, and I have not uncovered why. Parts of it are scattered around the ruins by the trail, and every year or so are painted with grafitti. How to find it? Bestest way is to go to the intersection of Monticello Avenue and Ironbound Road and park in one of the lots there. Walk, safely, back across the interesection down Monticello, towards W&M, for just a minute or three. You WILL see the prounced W&M Woods trail at that time. Great W&M hiking trail. In just a few minutes, from that intersection, there it is!...the truck ruins smack dab in the Woods. If you were to proceed farther along that trail, it would take you, keeping left, to Compton and behind the W&M Rec Center! Go for it....

l- CRIM DELL! Our College of William and Mary not only has one but two unique physical places that set if off nationally as a campus with top notch assets...the other one is our Sunken Garden. There was a pond, where it is now, that had fallen into disrepair and for years. In my opinion, and many others, W&M PRES. DAVIS PASCHALL was a true visionary. He could "see" what was needed for the Campus to evolve into a quality natural campus setting, as opposed to rows of buildings with classrooms.
And he went after it, with the help of so many. "...that one may walk in beauty, discover the serenity of the quiet moment, and despel the shadows." He said that on May 7, 1966 at the dedication of Crim Dell on Parents Day. Crim Dell, as we know it today, was created in memory of JOHN W. CRIM, a distinguished alumnus of the Class of 1901.
The inclose trails are still visible today, marked by metal strips enclosing the trail. Please, take the time to explore around the pond (small lake), all the way around it! Finally, the vegetation has been trimmed! In the small meadow near the end of the Sunken Garden, you'll discover the "Spring" bronze figures lazing on the woodland floor. (More later). Most adventurers miss the close and nearby bamboo and woods trails in and around that small meadow on the hillside. In there is that earlier mention "BEWARE" sign tacked on a tree. And the outdoor artwork? At one end of the pond, in the water, are the bronze figures of a heron, wren and turtle! (More later). Did you see the two HUGE redwoods by the coed and collegian, "Spring"? There are two benches under the redwoods in that small meadow at the edge of Crim Dell to sit and meditate, chat or close your eyes and listen to a vibrant, alive campus all around you, no matter the season!

m- "SPRING"...the coed and the collegian in the little meadow between the far end of the Sunken Garden and Crim Dell woods! Nearby, are two of the campus HUGE redwoods. The two statues were dedicated in 1979. They both seem soooo real. PLEASE take some time and walk over and examine, closely, the many fine details. His watch, time...her hair...the top book is missing from the pile. Not sure how and when. But, the biggest "crime" occured when a pissant/s knocked off the top of her love letter. It was found nearby after it occurred and reattached. A pissant/s knocked it off again and took it, for good...notice that the love letter she is reading is incomplete. There is an exact copy on another campus, and someone helped me find the complete love contents (will be shared soon).

n- Walking across the crosswalks on Jamestown Road and Richmod Road! PLEASE help this alum start a revolution at these two locations! Most of you know that there is a local city ordinance (law) giving crossers THE rightaway WHEN IN the crosswalk. For years, there has been friction between, enough, townspeople and students. I have been both and understand both sides. And this guy has, for years, been concerned with how to solve the contention every year...for years! The solution, I believe, is a simple one for both drivers and crossing students. And it involves a simple, respectful wave of a hand, signifying "thank you" as a student walks across and even a tiny smile or appreciation of thanks for stopping! For the drivers in return? Likewise, a simple wave of thanks and appreciation for your kind gesture. It would even hep to actually look at a driver's eyes, too. Start a revolution at those two brief encounters between local drivers and W&M students. Being on the local side, townies at times feel that students have their noses stuck up...perception? I honestly practice this simple consideration both ways...when I'm walking on Campus, often with my Nikons, I now have a small wave and mouth a "thank you" to drivers as I cross! As a driver, I really pay attention and watch way ahead for students ready to use the crosswalks! START A REVOLUTION by influencing others to held...thanks, guys...squire.

o- MATOAKA TRAIL walkabout! Take an afternoon, or morning, one weekend and, with a friend or friends, take a walkabout on OUR Campus. The Matoaka Trail is sorta short. Can start right behind the Rec Center and walk along the edge of much of Lake Matoaka, with spots there to exercise. That trail curves in and back along the lay of the Lake. Can see, above, the back of the soccor field. Will discover many unique tree root formations and a few primitive bridges. Neat views of the Lake tributaries, too. Trail takes you right past the Keck Field Lab, but keep going on past it on the trail and eventually out behind Dupont Hall. You could go in reverse and begin behind Dupont and come out behind the Rec Center beside Compton. Matoaka Trail is about a mile and a half.....more trails coming! Remember, there are over ten (10) miles of trails on our 1,200 acre Campus!

p- "AFRICA"...the ceramic wall mosaic large piece of artwork on the Campus appeared, for some time, to be have been forgotten over the years but no longer! Plantings around the art prize have been trimmed. You can discover the wall mosiac around back, and down, from the Campus Center on Jamestown Road. A ceramics class chose, as their class project, to design and "fire" large mosaics of Africa. Each student had a portion to design and create. It's outstounding! Across from the Ceramics Studio is the children's school. Little secret? Look up to the left...the individual students signed their creation for posterity...another original asset on the Campus of the College of William and Mary. This is probably my #2 "NEAT" spot, currently, on our Campus.

q- Our SUNKEN GARDEN!...check out the marker at the top of the steps going down into the Garden!...please read the marker about Patrick Henry. Young Henry helped to train W&M students when the Garden was a field, to march to Yorktown in 1981 to meet Gen. Washinton to do battle with the British Gen. Cornwallis. A visionary Pres. made sure that the huge field right in the middle of the Campus would be forever a vista, without buildings being "seen"....

r- DEER...and the 10+ miles of trails in our College Woods. There is one MAIN and LONG trail from Compton Rd. (next to the Rec Center) over and through the woods to Mill Neck Road near Jamestown Rd. Keep straight on it! Several trails branch off. Over the years, people have actually "dug" new trails for variety and shortcuts, BUT can see which one is THE old main trail. it goes on for at least 5 miles! About halfway, the trail heads down through a low area with a marshy stretch, small stream and then heads back up a steep section of trail. Last time there, I came upon two does drinking...sunlight was right on them! Past the steep area you will come on to heavily eroded sections! In that area closer to Mill Neck, and right before you go up to the flat area that levels off into Mill Neck Road, is a neat tiny pond, with a tiny island and tree in the middle of it!...large stag bounded away from it!

s- Upstairs on the 3rd floor of the SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN BLDG. was my sanctuary. To get away from the madding crowd, I used to take my bookpack and slip up there and crawl into one of those deep window wells overlooking the Sunken Garden to study and write. It was my "thinkin' sanctuary." The earlier original Wren was THE only building for classes and dining back in the later 1700s. Thomas Jefferson lived, studied and dined there! Shhhh...while up there studying in a window well, I could look down and "smile" at the TOURISTS.

t- Our LORD BOTETOURT Statue.... Even though Norborne Berkeley, Lord Botetourt, serve only two years as our Governor, but was quite popular at the College and in town. A statue was ordered and placed at the old Capitol from 1699 to 1780. For protection during the Revolutionary War, Gov. Jefferson had it moved to Richmond for security reasons. In 1801 W&M purchased the statue and moved it back to the Campus and in front of the Sir Christopher Wren College Yard. During the Civil War, it was moved again, for protection from the Union soldiers, to the Public Asylum (Easter State Hospital) for more protection! In 1958 Lord Botetourt was removed from the yard, elements, and boarded up, until 1966 and exhibited in the Botetourt Gallery, where it now, the original statue, proudly on display deep inside Swem.
The one you see, now, is a bronze copy by W&M alumnusm Gordon Kray, and was displayed in 1993 at the 300th Tercentenary anniversity. PLEASE go on an adventure to the center of Swem to see the original statue...parts missing.
The bronze statued of Botetourt in the College Yar is today the scene of periodical "events", like GOLD and GREEN balloons mysteriously appearing overnight...and College jam sessions, meals. W&M has unique traditions connected with the Statute...dressing "it" up and hanging wreaths on his outstretched hands. Recently, I photographed a small cup of flowers poised on the edge of his gown. This alum has photographed many scenes of the popular Virginia royal governor. My faves are always when it SNOWS!!...whenever we're lucky enough!...squire

u- The YULE LOG Ceremony!...Saturday evening at 6pm...December 13th...a bit of history mixed with W&M's tradition of bringing in the Yule Log and tossing in a sprig of holly, symbolically cleansing the upcoming year of those nasty worries and troubles! Hot spiced cider and sugar cookies will be out and about for all, beneath the Wren Courtyard's cressets spewing and popping over the wind, with pure fun for all! Maybe, just maybe, that rotund jolly guy will stop by...maybe Mr. Stenk/Stank/Stunk Grinch will sneak into the ceremony to steal something?

v- Still believe, as I stated in a much earlier blog, that it could be possible that our Lake Matoaka, with its many banks and tributaries (fingers) out and about the College Woods, just could be the home of a...a creature, an urban legend, that lives in the dark waters of our Lake! i named the possible Lake Matoaka creature...'POKA'....and first introduced this theory some time ago before anyone else had ever thought of it! Please refer back to 'POKA' in my Blog #35. Discovered that someone recently, in a blog, picked up on my W&M urban legend theory and mentioned it. Am glad that others are beginning to discover and believe that something does possibly exist in the many FINGERS of our Lake Matoaka. Is it a form of "flattery" when one copies another's ideas?

w- ANCIENT SHELLS! On my last exploratory hike on the loooong College Woods trail, where I saw the deer in a pasture-like area at the bottom of a steep segment of the trail to the Jamestown Rd. area, I picked up some shells exposed by the eroded trail. Plan to go back to poke around for some more in better shape. And also plan to ask a prof for an ID.

x- JOSEPH SHELTON WATSON...1801 W&M grad. A series of William and Mary Campus indepth essays on trails, outdoors artworks and neat Campus places was published in the local Virginia Gazette. Virginia Gazette, America's oldest newspaper, published my watercolor of the Watson hot-air balloon and a brief. One essay was an indepth research on the trails around Crim Dell. The Toano-Norge Times published my research on Joseph Shelton Watson last summer and a pictorial essay on the outdoor artworks of our Campus. But the one that introduced my fave subject, our 1801 grad Joseph Shelton Watson, was that essay in TNT that you need to read and is online. My research on this W&M grad was in progress for over a year, taking me to Louisa County, his home, and the Va. Historical Society in Richmond. Please walk, at least, over to the intersection, on the W&M Campus, at Richmond Rd. and Scotland Street. You'll discover a Virginia Marker briefly describing W&M grad Joseph Shelton Watson's "Virginia's First hot-air Balloon Flight" story!

aa- The Flower Gardens out and about the W&M Campus: in the tiny W&M sign spot where Jamestown Rd. meets Boundary...along the front of the Commons Dining Hall, across from W&M Hall...garden in front of Swem Library, surrounding the ancient sundial...along the slight hill rise in front of the Alumni House! Well, State budget cuts will curtail these fabulous flower gardens considerably that we've grown accustomed to this coming spring and summer!!! Private funds, that's you, Alumni, townfolk and students, will be needed...soon!

bb- The College Farm...visualize, please, along Jamestown Rd., from across Landrum at Barrett Hall, towards the new Mason School. That front portion along Jamestown was College Farm...vast woods was behind where Swem is today, over to Lake Matoaka.

cc- Thomas Jefferson slept here!......
Our 3rd U.S. President graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1762, completing all studies in two years. Remember, degrees were quite different from then to now. He lived, studied and took his meals all in the original Wren. One revealing comment that I uncovered once hinted that he didn't think much of the town in front of the College and didn't spend time out and about there...except for a tavern or so. However...he must have listened, intently, and even participate in the always lively confab by the local thinkers of the day, including someone by the name of...Patrick Henry. Young Thomas, later in life, also had to have been influenced by and with his young friends at the College, to understand his vast knowledge and writings later. Those early friends remained so into his adult life.
My readings, studies, centered around Jefferson, have personally grown by volumes over the years. This historian and author feels that I have a good grasp, 360-degrees, with this 18th century American icon.

dd- Ice House Cove!...begins at Lake Matoaka and goes, as a cove, into the College Woods by the Lake Matoaka Art Studio. Small rill behind the Garage and Adair Hall (pool) The tiny rill (stream) actually comes from the Crim Dell "dam" down to the Wildflower Refuge (sign) and along the ravine into the ice House Cove. Another good opportunity for you to go on a walkabout on Campus...an adventure! Oh, history says that there was an ice house up in that cove. That's all I've been able to uncover...not details, yet.

ee- The WOODEN STRUCTURES outside beside our Phi Beta Kappa Hall. The Architectural Design studio students, under the direction of Prof Ed Pease, hold an in-class competition for the students of his classes to design wooden structures in response to a problem statement. The students vote on a winner, and, as a class, actually build the winning scheme on their last day of the semester. (They're gone, now!)

ff- A short walkabout! Walk across Compton, backside, and head for just a minute towards Monticello. Look, across from back of new Rec Center and notice the first of two separate trails that go up the hill in the woods. Both will come out on a dead-end street taking you to Richmond Road, near the Williamsburg Shopping Cener (Bloom). If you visualize in your mind, through the woods beside our new Rec Center, and Compton (goes to Monticello), the huge new Dept. of Education Bldg. is being built off Monticello closer to Wmsbg. Shopping Center/Richmond Rd. I asked this spring if a trail could cut through the woods, on that small hill, paralleling Compton Road (shortcut) from Campus to the Dept. of Ed. bldg. Problem? Marsh and small creek around the bottom of the hill there, necessitating a long foot bridge over it. When you're at the new Ed. bldg., looking down the hill, you don't notice the marsh!
The woodland bridge would make a neat campus addition. Anyone want to donate some $$$$? Anyway, here's another campus adventure for you and some friends to explore with a WALKABOUT! I've given you plenty of walkabout adventures here to explore our campus. Never...say you are bored in our 'burg!

gg-

152- "THE WIZARD of OZ"...We're Off To See The Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard Of OZ.....".....

Trivia:

a- The doggie's name? (Toto) b- What State? (Kansas) c- Dorothy's last name? (Gale)
d- Color of Dorothy's magic shoes? (ruby red) e- Color of brick road (Yellow)
f- The aunt's name? (Em) g-Times she clicked her heels? (Three) h- What did she say at the end of the 1939 film? ("There's no place like home...there's no place like home....")
h-The uncle's name? (Uncle Henry) i- Name of the good witch? (Glinda the Good Witch of the North!) j- The Wicked Witch was from...? (the West) k-And the Wicked Witch of the East....
j- As a sociologists, can you figure out WHY American society, for decades, has been attached to this classic film...really, why?
l- BUT BEST of all?...can YOU sing the Oz song right now? Think you're too sophisticated to do it?

151- THE BROTHERS GRIMM:...NAME THE SEVEN DWARFS...CAN YOU?.....

Can you name all seven dwarfs given by the Brothers Grimm, without peeking?
Boo...hiss to moi! Was a Socratic poser. The Brothers Grimm collected German folklore, tales, around 1807. They didn't write them. The original 'Snow White' story had no names for the dwarfs. Walt Disney's creative production crew, in 1937, created the seven names for their first full-length motion picture!
*Sneezy!
*Dopey!
*Bashful!
*...and who was "this" one????? (________)
*Happy!
*Doc!
*Grumpy!
THE Disney classic, I believe, has nearly 100% of all Americans in our society who LIKE the film. Ask anyone, too, which one of the dwarfs is their fave...well, do you...have a fave? (______)
It's OK to write right here on the screen your fave!

150- PONDERABLE: "IGNORANCE Is The REAL ENEMY Of Our AMERICAN SOCIETY!"......

Go figure....I call it "lemmings rushing to the sea, without thinking for themselves, following the others in a mass rush to the....sea!"

149- THOUGHT For The WEEKEND: "YOU CANNOT HEAR A SMILE!".....

A SMILE is shared silently and, I believe, often more meaningful and sincere than a verbal 'compliment.' A smile, yes, just doesn't lie or deceive! If someone appreciates or likes another or an event, a smile tells! Again, think about it...a smile has mucho trouble deceiving. If someone doesn't appreciate or like one, a SMILE cannot be squeezed out, faked!....but you already know that, don't you? By the way, observe a widdle child...when they smile, it is a genuine appreciation of 'like' for something or somebody...right? And when they don't like something or somebody? Can they force a smile? I rest my case....

148- THE WORLD'S MOST FASCINATING HISTORY MYSTERIES #3...THE TERRA-COTTA CHINESE WARRIORS!.....

Over 8,000 life-sized terra-cotta models of classic poses, like a general, soldiers and archers, were discovered in 1974. The huge burial chamber of third-century Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang was found by accident by a group of farmers in the north-central Shaanxi Province. People were digging a well and tunnelled into a hidden cavity containing at first 6,000 warrior figures. More pits were uncovered with statues and valuable artifacts galore. Thousands, they say, remain to be discovered.
The cratsmen's figures are a hugely valuable look into early Chinese culture.
Terra-cotta is a type of ceramic or clay. The pieces have a natural, earthy color. To some, maybe one day the discovery will be classified as the 8th Wonder of the Ancient World!

For more details, suggest you google to the Terra-Cotta Chinese Warriors or visit your local library...you WILL be fascinated, visually!

147- IT WORKS!...BRAINSTORMING!.....

"Brainstorming" is a serious, but simple, method to using your intelligence to solve situations and problems. It doesn't take a 'rocket scientist' to sharpen up your power and abilities...try it!
I would say that most persons solve a problem with just one possible solution devised...nope, there's another more useful way.

-Take an object within your grasp...like a candle!
-Get a notepad or piece of paper and a pen or pencil.
-Now, me assuming the role of 'teach', you have two (2) minutes to push your thinker to the limit and come up with as many possible things to do with that candle, NO MATTER what...stupid, serious, brilliant, exciting, dumb...NO MATTER what and jot them down...you're after as many within two minutes as possible.
-Ready...set...go!
-NOW, go back and see if any of those many possibilites would work for a unique use. Did you jot down the obvious, light it?...good.

OK, you've just practiced "Brainstorming", by expanding the CONCEPT of solving problems or needs with as many possible solutions as you can...go past two minutes, of course.
See? Most persons come up with only ONE possibility. How can you develop a neat personal thinking process with only ONE possiblity?...I rest my case!

Related to that...when one is trying to remember a name or fact or place, and cannot conjure it up? It does seem to work when one concentrates on it...then passes it on. It will OFTEN pop up, soon. I've seen it work so many times with me and others! Example: had been invited by the Asst. Director at Eastern State Hospital, Martin Kline, to view and photograph the stained glass window in the Chapel, created by Ms. Joy Gosselin and given in honor of Mrs. Esther Ruffin. Later, outside in front of the new Hancock Geriatric Treatment Center, we noticed a large flower garden of still-blooming red roses. He had visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond and wanted to tell me who the landscaper was...he concentrated, went on, and the name came up! That's my story, and I'm sticking, as usual, to it!

PRACTICE: think of as many possible ways to earn extra $$$$ to YOUR income....Ready...Set...Go!

146- A RELIC FROM THE 1950s---LAYAWAYS--ARE BACK THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON!.....

A 'social commentary'...layaways from the '50s are back and strong this upcoming Christmas season! Wonder why? If you've NEVER had a layaway, raise your hand?...no one?
I began, as a kid, collecting miniatures of all kinds, and would pay for them on the layaway system...a little bit at a time, delivering newspapers and then working at a small grocery store chain. Let's see: whales with a calf...covered bridges...diners...detailed animals of the world...elephants...Santa Claus...birds...anything farm...only lighthouses with snow....